HYDERABAD, India -- Ten years after it was officially opened, CFM International has expanded the capability of the CFM Training Center here to include both the LEAP-1A and LEAP-1B engines as the fleet in India continues to grow.

The LEAP-1A entered service in India last February with Air India, who now operates a fleet of 15 A320neo airplanes. Vistara followed in May 2017 and operates five LEAP-1A-powered A320neos. Jet Airways will be the first airline in country to introduce the LEAP-1B-powered Boeing 737 MAX later this year. There are currently a total of more than 600 CFM engines in service in India and Southern Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka, power Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft.

This state-of-the-art training center represents an investment of more than $15 million U.S. by CFM over the past decade, including initial start-up costs. The CFM Training Center, which welcomed its first students on March 8, 2010, was the fourth such engine maintenance training center for CFM customers worldwide. The Center has the capacity to train 500 engineers annually and mirrors those in China, France, and the United States.

The Training Center initially provided advanced hands-on courses in line maintenance and borescope inspection for CFM56-7B and CFM56-5B engines, which power Boeing Next-Generation 737 and Airbus A320 families aircraft, respectively. In addition to Indian operators, the facility also provides training to students from such near-by regions as the Gulf states, the Middle East, and Far Eastern countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

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